Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991)

[madali]

Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991)
 
I’m not a huge fan of anthology stories. I remember there used to be a time I used to think I was, and maybe it stemmed from the fact that I like anthology stories in book sci-fi book form (and come to think of it, maybe even in sci-fi TV show form, like “The Twilight Zone”). But a few short stories in films seemed to always be less interesting than my initial assumption. It is probably because at best, they finish before you really get into it, and have to finish a subpar one, or they never grab you at all, and can’t wait for it to finish.
 
I found “Night on Earth” to be one of the few exemptions. The theme of this anthology by Jim Jarmusch is five taxi rides in five different cities, all at night. Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki, and they range from interesting, to funny, to tragic, but always entertaining, and they all seem to finish at the right time, without either dragging it out, or ending too soon. The only slight misfire is the one with Roberto Benigni, the Oscar winner from the Holocaust film, “Life is Beautiful”. But Benigni has always annoyed me a bit, and his role here is his usual role, he talks fast, without a break, for an extended period of time, trying to be really funny, which gets old after 12 seconds, so every second after that is usually just annoying.
 
4/5

[X.]

I found the LA segment (Wionna Ryder as the cabbie) to be more irritating than the Rome segment (Roberto Benigni).

That still does not spoil what is, for me, one of the best Jarmusch films. Sophisticated, funny and conceptual. Also, very Kiarostami.

My favorite segment: Paris. Great dialogue, great acting, great cinematography.

[madali]

Also, very Kiarostami.

Except if it was Kiarostami, half of the film would be them just driving around without any dialogue